The Road Behind, the Path Ahead
by Lady Arreya
Summary: Inspired by the episode, "Hartland." To continue on the path ahead, you have to leave the past behind. Richard/Kahlan.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Road Behind, the Path Ahead  
Rating: T  
Summary: Inspired by the episode, "Hartland." To continue on the path ahead, you have to leave the past behind. Richard/Kahlan.

"Lesson #18: Keep to the path ahead, not the road behind." –Zedd

* * *

Kahlan sized up the woman from across the square. So this was the mysterious Anna. The one Richard had been talking to when he'd been under the spell of the Lying Moon. She'd known this woman was special to Richard. She just hadn't been able to figure out how special, and Richard hadn't wanted to tell her.

Clearly he still didn't want to tell her. When she'd asked him just now who Anna was, he'd been vague and evasive. His tone had been nonchalant. Too nonchalant.

From Chase's response, Kahlan knew with certainty what Richard had deliberately left out. That he and this Anna woman had been romantically involved before. That he had loved her once.

Perhaps he loved her still. Perhaps he had never forgotten about her.

The thought made Kahlan feel ill.

Dismayed, she remembered how he'd confided in Anna while he'd been under the spell. He'd trusted her so much that he'd been willing to tell her about all his adventures and secrets. He had very nearly revealed where they'd hidden the third box of Orden.

Kahlan couldn't help but feel jealous. She hated feeling that way. It felt so petty. She knew she had no right to feel possessive of Richard. She was only the Seeker's guide and companion. It was her duty as Confessor, nothing more.

The Seeker belonged to the people. He didn't answer to her.

But she couldn't help it. She still felt possessive.

It pained her that she could be so affected. She was a Confessor, for heaven's sake. She should be above all that.

But she wasn't.

She wasn't used to having competition for Richard's affections. She was accustomed to being the most important person in his life and having tremendous influence over him.

She usually felt sure of his love for her, but right now she felt very insecure.

(To be continued in Chapter 2…)


	2. Chapter 2

Richard stared in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes. Discovering that Anna was in Hartland had been already been a surprise, and now this…

Why would Anna take up with the viceroy? It disgusted him to see her in the arms of that D'Haran butcher.

Why was everyone in Hartland so enamored of the D'Harans? Couldn't they see their brutality, their injustice?

First Michael, and now Anna.

Michael he could understand. His brother had always been power-hungry. If he thought the D'Harans could elevate his status, he'd ally with them in a heartbeat.

But Anna wasn't like that. She'd never been interested in power or glory. Was the situation so bad in Hartland that the only way she could protect herself was to sell herself out to this man?

The viceroy was the most powerful of the D'Harans here, after all. He governed the entire region. Even Michael, First Councilor, had to answer to him.

Still, he refused to believe that Anna was actually in love with the viceroy. She could never love a man like that.

Could she?

Richard felt utterly demoralized. The D'Harans had completed taken over Westland, just as Kahlan had predicted.

He'd hated seeing all the villagers in the town square kneeling and praying to their "savior" Lord Rahl. He'd seen enough of Darken Rahl's ways to know that the man was pure evil.

But it had also strengthened his resolve. He would flush these intruders out and restore Westland to the peaceful land it had once been. Then he would drive the D'Harans out of the Midlands and then venture to D'Hara itself. All he had to do was fulfill the prophecy and kill Darken Rahl, and that would be the end of it.

He'd been so certain that the people of Westland would support his quest and rise up against their oppressors, but now he faltered. What if everyone in Hartland was blinded to the truth and saw the D'Harans not as callous invaders but as bringers of safety and prosperity, as Michael had claimed?

If Anna believed that, so could many others.

He didn't love Anna anymore, but he still cared about her. He wanted her to see the truth about the D'Harans. He wanted her support.

Richard really hoped that it wasn't what it looked like. Even if Anna did love the viceroy… It was too bad, because he was probably going to have to kill him anyway.

(To be continued in Chapter 3…)


	3. Chapter 3

Kahlan stared out the window, wondering where Richard and Chase were. They'd been gone a long time. She'd been left behind to guard Michael while they went after the viceroy.

It wasn't a pleasant task. Michael kept trying to goad her temper, and it wasn't easy for her to idly stand by and do nothing while he maligned her, and then Richard.

Kahlan maintained an outward calm, but inside she was seething.

Michael was nothing like Richard.

She couldn't understand why Michael seemed so disdainful of Richard. Didn't he care about his brother at all? How could he, who had grown up with Richard all those years, know him so little?

She was just about ready to tell him off, when Chase and Richard burst through the door.

She was surprised to see that they'd returned with Anna. She felt uneasy. Had he been with _her_ all this time? Had he deliberately sought her out?

_Stop,_ Kahlan told herself grimly. They had to figure out what was going on in Hartland and what role Michael played in it. She didn't have time to worry about Anna and Richard now.

The D'Harans were skilled at manipulating the truth. Was Michael a willing accomplice or did he truly not know about the atrocities the D'Harans were responsible for?

Perhaps he simply didn't want to know and had turned a blind eye to the truth.

As they confronted him about the list of names he had given the D'Harans, she sensed that this was the case. Denial was a powerful force, especially for a man like Michael, who lacked Richard's integrity and strength of character.

He was forced to confront it now. Anna's accusations rang through the room. The truth was that Michael had sent dozens of innocent people to their deaths, whether he had known it or not. By writing that list, he had condemned Anna's brother and so many others to being fed alive to the gars.

Anna nearly collapsed from the force of her grief and anger, and Richard rushed to her side.

Kahlan looked away. She couldn't bear to see Richard holding another woman in his arms. Consoling her. Comforting her. She understood Anna's distress – it was horrific to find out the D'Harans were feeding people to the gars – but…

_Does he still love her?_ she couldn't help wondering again.

The pain pierced her heart like an arrow.

She wanted him all to herself.

It was perverse. It was selfish, she knew. She could never have him, but she didn't want anyone else to have him either.

(To be continued in Chapter 4…)


End file.
